Jim Carrey tones down the funny and turns up the inspiration for commencement speech

Comedian Jim Carrey took a break from filming his widely-popular comedy films and stopped by Fairfield, Iowa, to deliver the commencement speech at Maharishi University of Management. In the speech he spoke about his family life - in particular his father - and how his father’s mistakes inspired him to become a comedian.

He talked about how his father had what it took to be a comedian, but instead he made the “conservative choice” as an accountant - which ultimately didn’t work out anyway.

In the uplifting speech, Carrey explained “So many of us choose our path out of fear disguised as practicality. What we really want seems impossibly out of reach and ridiculous to expect, so we never dare to ask the universe for it.”

According to The New York Daily News, Carrey - like a lot of celebrities these days - was met with a Fine Arts honorary doctrine degree that day, as well.

Carrey is set to star in Dumb and Dumber To - the sequel to 1994’s Dumb and Dumber - which premieres in November.